Sampling machine



Sept. 1, 1953 A. A. ARMER SAMPLING MACHINE Filed Aug. 13, 1,951

2 Sheets-Sheet l AUST/N A. ARN/EF? h/ls ATTORNEY sept. 1, 1953 Filed Aug. 15, 1951 A. A. ARMER SAMPLING MACHINE l .fr/111111.vizir/,fallin r2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /NVENTOR AUST/'N A. ARME@ BWM hib ATTORNEY Patented Sept. l, 1953 SAMPLING MACHINE Austin A. Armer, Davis, Calif., assgnor to Spreckels Sugar Company,

San Francisco,

Calif., a corporation of California Application August 13, 1951, Serial No. 241,506

8 Claims. (Cl. i3- 423) My invention relates to sampling mechanisms and particularly to a beet sampling machine.

An object of my invention is the provision of a sampling machine which will catch a representative sample of beets as they drop from a conveyor and then deliver such sample into a bag. Another object is to accomplish this result while making it difficult for anyone to alter the integrity of the sample.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a sample collector mechanism which moves a sample pan in one continuous motion cycle from an operating station into the path of the material to be sampled at one side of the station, and then back to the station.

The invention possesses other objects, some of which, with the foregoing, will be brought out in the following description of the invention. I do not' limit myself to the showing made by the said description and the drawings, since I may adopt variant forms of thev invention within lthe scope of the appended claims.

` Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of my invention showing the pan in position to receive beets from a conveyor. The conveyor is shown in dashed lines.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view, the plane of the section being indicated by the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken in the plane indicated by line 3 3 of Fig. l.

Payments to sugar beet growers for beets purchased by processors are based upon the analysis of beet samples taken at processors receiving stations. It is of great concern to the growers that the samples be taken fairly and that each sample should be truly representative of the truck load from which it is taken, without in any way being influenced in favor of the grower or the processor.

In order to obtain this desirable result, the mechanism of my invention has been fashioned so that from time to time, as desired by the operator, approximately twenty pounds of beets may be taken out of the stream of beets as they fall from the delivery conveyor at the receiving station; and then deposited in a sample bag which remains on the mechanism to one side of the delivery conveyor until removed. During this operation interference with the sample is difficult and any such attempt readily observable.

My sample catching mechanism broadly includes a base to which is xed a column having a bracket mounted for limited pivotal movement thereon about a vertical axis. A reduction gear motor is connected by a simple crank and link Z with the bracket, and one complete turn of the crank moves the bracket back and forth through "one cycle, all other motions of parts flowing from :this simple reciprocating movement.

` A shaft mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis in the bracket, carries a gear at one end in mesh with a gear fixed on the column so that when the bracket swings about the column the shaft is rotated. At its other end, the shaft carries an arm, which after rotary movement of the shaft through a part of its full arc of move- Ilment, engages and picks up the sample pan, and swings it out and `up to an inverted position. This picking up of the pan is timed to occur after the bracket has swung through a portion of its full arc of movement, the pick--up arm during this period, swinging with the shaft, and the pan swinging out from the delivery conveyor in a horizontal plane through a short arc, before being lifted by the arm during the remainder of its swing about the horizontal axis of the shaft and during the remainder of vthe swing of the bracket about its vertical axis. The motion of the pan is therefore a short swing in a horizontal plane to clear the delivery conveyor, `and then movement in an ascending spiral to an inverted position to one side of the conveyor. The shift of positions is of course the result sought, not the precise shape of the path of movement.

At this point which is the end of the cycle of operations, the motion of the pan is stopped by engagement of a, moving part with a spring-held normally closed switch in the motor circuit. The pan is now in inverted position, the beetsI having slid through a discharge lip or funnel attached to the pan and into a bag preferably attached over the funnel mouth by a quickly releasable means.

After the sample bag with its sample is removed, an empty bag is attached to the funnel and a spring-held normally open switch in a circuit shorting around the normally closed switch is closed to start the motor and operate the machine through another cycle, during which the pan is first lowered to receiving position, in which beets from the delivery conveyor fall into it; and second, the pan swings out to clear the conveyor and then rises to inverted position to one side of the delivery conveyor, and empties into the bag and stops.

In greater detail my sampling machine comprises a, main supporting frame 2 conveniently made of small structural iron shapes welded together. Arms 3 of the frame permit it to be secured adjacent the end of the catwalk 4 which lies alongside the delivery conveyor 5, along which the beets to be sampled are carried in the direction shown by the arrow.

A portion 'I of the frame extends past the end of the catwalk and carries a vertically disposed step or socket 3, Fig. 3, in which a vertical column 9 is fixed by set screws I0. Journaled on the column by sleeve bearings I2 and thrust bearing I3, is the bracket I4, braced by the web I5 and having a tubular horizontal extension I6, .in which is journaled the shaft I'I. On the inner end of the shaft is fixed a miter gear I8, meshing with a similar `gear I9 fixed on the top of the column 9. Since the column and its gear are fixed, any swinging of the bracket about the vertical axis of the column compelsV rotary movement of the shaft I'I about its horizontal axis. It is the coordination of these two movements on which I depend for effecting the desired motion of the sampling pan.

On the outside of the bracket extension tube I6, a sleeve 2t is journaled coaxially with the shaft, The sampling pan is mounted on this sleeve by arms 2|, extending to and fixed on vthe tapered funnel 22, which carries the pan proper 23 at its larger end. As shown in both Figsl 1 and 2, the side of the funnel is out away immediately above the pan to widen access to the pan from the conveyor end.

Extending across and fixed to the pan supporting Varms is a bar 24, having a set screw 25 therethrough and impinging against the web portion I5 of the bracket I4. By adjustment of this set screw the pan is set in a horizontal position best suited to receive the beet samples, adjacent the end of the -delivery conveyor.

Means are provided for swing-ing the bracket on the column to swing the pan l23 rst horizontally away from the end of the delivery conveyor 5, and then upwardly in a spiral path to inverted position. Mounted on the frame 2 is a reduction gear motor 28 having the crank arm 29 on the power delivery shaft. This arm is connected by link -3.I with the lever arm -32, iixed to the bracket I4. The arm is provided at its outer end with a series of holes 33 arranged in Va circular arc .about the vertical axis of the column. By selection of one of these holes for the seat of the wrist pin 34 which connects the link to the arm, the location of the path of movement of the pan .relative to the end of the conveyor 5 may be adjusted.

With the parts as shown in Fig. .1, the Lcrank arm and link Abei-ng nearly aligned, the pan is at its lowest level and `near to its nal momentary position adjacent the conveyor from which the sample beets are received. This is near the mid point in the cycle of lowering the pan from its inverted or dumping position to receiving `position, and then raising it again to inverted position. At the actual mid poi-nt, the pan is squarely facing 'the conveyor end and preferably centered thereon.

As the crank arm 29 turns in the direction of the :arrow from the position shown in Fig. 1, the bracket and pan structure mounted on it, swing horizontally about the vertical axis of the column to approximately the position indicated by the dash lines. At about this point, an arm 31 xed on the free end of the rotating shaft Il, engages the end of a set screw V38, .adjustably disposed in the adjacent end of the bar 24, and picks up the pan structure. The bracket together with all the parts .carried by it continues on its swinging movement about the vertical column axis, but from the moment of engagement of the arm 31 with the pan structure, the latter starts an additional upward swing about the horizontal axis of the shaft I'I. The motion about the two axes continues, this part of the motion cf the pan being in a spiral path, until the crank arin 29 has moved through one-half of a turn at which point the control circuit 39 of the motor is opened by engagement of the end of the lever arm 32 with the normally closed limit switch 40. The pan is now in inverted position above the catwalk and at the end of the cycle of movement.

A conveniently located spring held normally lopen switch 4I, shorted around the switch 40, permits the operator to close the motor circuit to initiate a new cycle which includes swinging the bracket back about the column and then pulling it back. During this movement of the bracket, the pan structure which at the end of the cycle is still held by its weight against the arm 3l is lowered through a spiral path to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 at which point the supporting arm 3l separates from .the set screw 38, leavin-g the pan maintained in horizontal position by contact of the other set screw 26 against the bracket web, While the pan swings in toward the conveyor end to receive the beets discharging thereover.

While the rotary speed of the driving motor remains substantially constant, there is of course a slowing up of the pan as the driving crank approaches dead center, then the briefest of pauses and acceleration as `dead center is reached and passed and the return movement begins. This gives ample time for the collection of the beet samples, making i-t unnecessary to actually stop the pan movement while collecting the samples.

Means are provided for quickly attaching and detaching sample bags over the funnel of the pan structure. As the pan inverts at the end of its cycle of movement, the collected sample slides through the funnel 22 into the bag. The yattendant then detaches the bag and puts on an empty one, before pressing switch 4I to start another sample taking cycle.

Pivotally mounted on each side of the funnel is a curved pressure foot 45, carried on a lever 4B, pivotally mounted on the pin 4l, rigidly secured to the funnel by the lug 48. Each lever is extended on the opposite side of its pivot .in an arm 5I sloping away from the funnel and adapted to be engaged and depressed to .lift the foot, by the loop 52 which encircles the funnel and two levers, and is pivotally mounted on the arms 2| by pins 53 at its ends. The sizes and arrangements of parts is such that with the loop engaged with the levers 46, as shown in Fig. 2, the feet 45 are pressed tightly against the funnel sides; but with movement of the loop toward the pan it engages the angularly disposed ends 5I and raises the feet. Movement of the loop to raise the pressure feet or to seat them against the funnel is limited by the flanges 54 and, 55, formed on the ends of lever arms r5I and 46 respectively.

A sample bag is attached to the funnel by first pushing the loop toward the pan to raise the pressure feet. The bag which is made for the purpose with a mouth of chosen size, is then pushed over the tapered funnel, and the loop pulled back to seat the feet rmly against the bag which then is held securely until released at the end of the cycle.

I claim:

1. A sample catching mechanism comprising a vertical column, a bracket journaled on the column, a shaft journaled in the bracket, a sleeve journaled on the bracket coaxially with the shaft, a pan supported on the sleeve, a gear fixed on the shaft, a gear fixed on the column and in mesh with the shaft gear, said gears effecting rotary movement of said shaft when said bracket is swung about said column, an arm fixed on the shaft to engage and lift the pan during part of the rotary movement of the shaft, and means for swinging the bracket on the column.

2. A sample catching mechanism comprising a bracket, means for mounting the bracket for movement about a Vertical axis, a shaft journaled in the bracket for rotary movement about a horizontal axis when said bracket is moved about said vertical axis, a pan journaled on the bracket coaxially with the shaft for movement circumferentially about the horizontal axis, means operatively connecting the shaft to the pan, and means for moving the bracket back and forth about its vertical axis.

3. A mechanism for delivering a sample into a bag comprising a vertical column, a bracket journaled on the column, a shaft journaled in the bracket for rotation about a horizontal axis, a sleeve journaled on the bracket coaxially with the shaft, a pan structure including a funnel supported on the sleeve, securing means including pressure feet for holding a bag around the funnel of the pan structure, a gear fixed on the shaft, a gear fixed on the column and in mesh with the shaft gear, said gears effecting rotary f.

movement of said shaft when said bracket is swung about said column, an arm fixed on the shaft to engage and lift the pan structure during a portion of the rotary movement of the shaft, and means for swinging the bracket through an arc about the vertical column first to lower the pan to receive the sample and then to lift the pan to inverted position to empty the sample into the bag.

4. A sample catching mechanism comprising a vertical column, a bracket journaled on the column, a shaft journaled in the bracket, a sleeve journaled on the bracket coaxially with the shaft, a pan supported on the sleeve, a gear fixed on the shaft, a gear fixed on the column and in mesh with the shaft gear, said gears effecting rotary movement of said shaft when said bracket is swung about said column, an arm fixed on the shaft to operatively engage the pan, and actuating means including a crank arm and link for swinging the bracket back and forth on the column.

5. A sample catching mechanism comprising a vertical column, a bracket journaled on the column for pivotal movement about a vertical axis, a shaft journaled in the bracket for rotary movement about a horizontal axis, a sleeve journaled on the bracket coaxially with the shaft for rotary movement thereon; a pan supported on the sleeve, stop means interposed between the pan and the bracket for limiting downward movement of the pan, a gear fixed on the shaft, a gear fixed on the column in mesh with the shaft gear, said gears effecting rotary movement of said shaft when said bracket is swung about said column, interengaging means on the pan and the shaft operative to lift the pan during a portion of the rotary movement of the shaft, and means for swinging the bracket through a fixed arc about said vertical column.

6. A sample catching mechanism comprising a Vertical column, a bracket journaled on the column, a shaft journaled in the bracket for rotation about a horizontal axis, a sleeve journaled on the bracket coaxially with the shaft, a pan supported on the sleeve, a gear fixed on the shaft, a gear fixed on the column and in mesh with the shaft gear, said gears effecting rotary movement of said shaft when said bracket is swung about said column, an arm fixed on the shaft to operatively engage the pan, means including a crank arm and link for swinging the bracket back and forth on the column, a motor operatively connected to said crank arm, and means for stopping the motor at a predetermined position of the crank arm.

7. In a sampling machine, the combination of a vertical column, a bracket journaled on the column, a shaft journaled in the bracket for rotation about an axis angularly disposed to said column, a gear fixed on the column, a gear xed on the shaft and in mesh with the column gear, said gears effecting rotary movement of said shaft when said bracket is swung about said column, a pan structure journaled on the bracket, stop means between thev pan structure and bracket to limit movement of the pan structure on the bracket in one direction, an arm xed on the shaft and engageable with the pan structure to move the pan structure in the opposite direction, and means for swinging the bracket on the column.

8. In a sampling machine, the combination of a fixed vertical column, a bracket journaled on the column, a shaft journaled in the bracket for rotary movement about a horizontal axis, a gear fixed on the column, a gear fixed on the shaft and in mesh with the column gear, said gears effecting rotary movement of said shaft when said bracket is swung about said column, a pan structure journaled on the bracket, stop means between the pan structure and bracket to limit movement of the pan structure on the bracket in one direction, an arm fixed on the shaft and engageable with the pan structure to move the pan structure in the opposite direction, releasable means including pressure feet for holding a bag over a portion of the pan structure, and means for swinging the bracket back and forth on the column.

AUSTIN A. ARMER.

References Cited in the file of this patent Pletta et al Jan. 31, 1950 

